Brawn reveals MotoGP talks to avoid future date clashes

Ross Brawn has revealed that he has met with Dorna chief executive Carmelo Ezpeleta to try and organise it so Formula 1 and MotoGP calendars avoid clashing rounds in the future.

The two met at the recent Spanish Grand Prix to outline the plans for the future, with the talks taking place due to the opening two rounds of their respective 2017 seasons clashing, with six further clashes occurring during the year.

Brawn, Formula 1’s managing director under Liberty Media’s ownership, said it would be smart to avoid such clashes in the future.

“We’re not too proud to consult with other championships and work out the best way forward,” said Brawn to Reuters.

“It’s difficult to juggle dates, and you can’t always achieve what you want, but at least we’re having a dialogue to try and work it out.”

Brawn admitted he likes the ladder system of MotoGP, with drivers having a clear route from Moto3 into Moto2 before making the final jump into the premiere series, and Formula 1 would be good to have a similar system in place, although commercial situations usually prevent this.

“I like the meritocracy that they have between Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP,” said Brawn. “I think it’s interesting looking at the commercial side, the way they structure the teams and the deals and the way it works for the customer teams.”

“We should have the 22 or 24 best drivers in the world in Formula 1. There are commercial considerations, which means we don’t always achieve that.

“It’s a complex problem because you have to put the teams in a position where they don’t have to make those commercial decisions, they just make the decision based on the strongest drivers they can find.”